'I did fight hard, then; and I climbed in again. Was that being a
soldier?'

'Yes, my boy.'

'And granny let me out soon after; and I kissed her and said I was sorry,
but I told her how nearly I had run away, and asked her to see that the
window was locked next time, so that I shouldn't have to fight so hard.'

'You will have plenty of fighting. Don't shirk the hottest part of the
field; that isn't being brave.'

'Will you give me a horrid, ugly name, please, sir?'

'I thought your enemy's name was Teddy.'

'No, that's mine; I must have a name for him--a different one, you know.'

'How do you like Ego or Ipse?'

'What funny names! I think I like Ipse best I'll call him Ipse, shall I?'

But Mr. Upton's thoughts were far away by this time, and presently he
said, as if to himself, '"The last enemy that shall be destroyed is
death." "Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors, through
Him that loved us." It is a fight with certain victory ahead; then why
do we fail?'

'Shall I fail?' questioned a soft voice by his side.

'"Without Me ye can do nothing." That's our Captain's word: if you fight
without Him, you are done for.'

'I think I shall sometimes let Ipse have his way. Will that be deserting
to the enemy?'

'It will be sure and certain defeat.'

'But then, of course, my Captain won't let me be beaten, if I stick
close to Him.'

And so they talked, a strange couple; but the younger of them had a faith
which the elder might envy, and a grasp of the unseen that the ripest
saint could not surpass.

Not long after this, Teddy and his schoolfellows were having a
delightful afternoon in the woods. It was Saturday afternoon, and they
were playing their favourite war game, Teddy, of course, being prime
instigator of the whole affair. A few of the more adventurous girls had
joined them, Nancy amongst them. Her respect for Teddy was gradually
increasing, though nothing seemed to quench her self-assertion and
independence of thought and action. At length Teddy announced his
intention of going off on an expedition as a scout, and on Nancy's
insisting that she should come too, the two children started, made their
way out of the wood and down to the banks of the stream, which soon
joined the river.

'What have we to do?' asked Nancy.

'It's great fun. You see, every one we meet is an enemy, and we have to
get past them without them seeing us; we must crawl through the long
grass, or we must climb